The Rise and Fall of Saito
by drizzt do'urden dwarf friend
Summary: During a fight Louise says something that wounds Saito deeply. He vows that he will never help her again, and he leaves. 5 years later the queen hears of a rogue that has killed 5 of her most senior musketeer force. Worried for the kingdom she dispatches Louise and Agnes to find and arrest the rogue. But what they find is much more than a normal rogue.
1. A Worried Traveler

"I wonder how she will react when she sees that I'm still alive," Saito pondered to himself out loud while walking on the road to the magic academy, where he knew that Louise would be. As he said this, he absent mindedly touched his chest where he had been fatally wounded in Albion only a few short weeks ago. "I shouldn't be alive….," Saito mumbled under his breath. An hour goes by with him entertaining his dark thoughts. He was only roused from his thoughts by the sight that came to him as he crested a tall hill and saw the signature domed roofs of the Tristain Magic Academy in the far distance. Looking towards the sun he judged that he would make it there by noon if kept his pace. " I know that she cares about me a lot, but I really hope she doesn't blow me up when I get there like she usually does," Saito said with a heavy sigh. Thinking of the possibility made him shudder a little. "What's eatin' at'cha partner?" said the familiar metallic voice of the magic sword Delfringer bringing Saito out of his thoughts. " I guess that I'm just worried about seeing Louise again, what if she hates me? I mean I did drug her and make her leave me behind as I faced certain death at the hands of Albion's army," he replied. "I don't know what to tell ya partner except for this, in this situation you can only trust fate's decision and accept it as an inevitability," Delf said, sounding like he truly understood what Saito was feeling. "You're right… I guess. Well… I guess its time to see what fate's decision of my destiny is," Saito said with a resignation to accept whatever decision that fate made for him.


	2. The Lover Reunited

A red eyed Louise rolled over in her bed. "Saito… Saito… Saito…" Louise repeated as a new wave of tears came to her eyes.

There is a knock at the door through which you can hear Siesta's muffled voice say, "Lady Louise? Are you awake?" No answer.

The door lock clicks, and the hinges creak on their hinges. Looking at the maid's face could tell you that she had been crying recently as her eyes and the area around were still red at there were dry trails where the tears hadn't been wiped away. "How are you today Lady Louise?" Siesta managed to croak as she tried to hold back her tears.

"Please don't cry Lady Louise, Saito would want us to be strong here without him," Siesta's voice wavers as she continues to try and keep her tears at bay.

Something in Louise snapped at she heard Siesta's words. Anger welled up from the deepest part of her being, consuming her in her own rage as she bolted up in her bed and turned on Siesta. "Oh, and how would you know what Saito would want? Huh? How could you possibly know what he would want us to do in this situation? You don't, do you? Do You!?" Louise yelled getting louder with every syllable, a savage fire alight in her eyes as she took out all the anger that she felt on an undeserving Siesta.

Seconds felt like hours as Louise stared at siesta with rage. This outburst was enough to break all of Siesta's attempts at trying to hold back her tears, letting them run free, and letting her mind finally be swept away with the depression that she had desperately been fighting since Saito had decided to stay behind in Albion to fight an army of 70,000 soldiers in order to protect the people who were fleeing Albion's army. Seeing Siesta's face convoluted by tears halted the hatred that had consumed her mind, and in that mere moment that she was stopped was the moment that her sadness hit her like a tsunami, bringing with it a fresh set of tears. An unmeasurable amount of time passes this way, both Siesta and Louise crying. At some point they embraced each other, crying, they held each other.

An hour has passed and the tears have begun to dry up. "Come Lady Louise, we should go outside, some fresh air will do us good," Siesta wavered in a small voice to the person that she still held tightly in her arms.

"Sure…. Why not?" Louise replied in a voice that was almost too soft to hear. Siesta stands up and dusts herself off before she extends her hand to Louise who was waiting on the bed. Louise takes her hand and pulls herself off of the bed to stand uneasily on her feet. Having not used her feet in the weeks since she had gotten back to the academy. She takes one step. And then another, stumbling but being caught by Siesta before she could fall.

Using her as a crutch Louise and Siesta make their way out of the room and into the hall. Before long the two are at the door leading out of the dormitories. Taking a deep breath Siesta undoes the latch keeping the door closed and opens it. Light immediately begins to pour through the opening, temporarily blinding the duo, burning their eyes as they try to adjust to the sudden change in light. A moment passes as they struggle to see what is in front of them, finally their eyes adjust and the world around them starts to focus. Though Louise wish her eyes hadn't adjusted after the sight that awaited her in the courtyard.

It was a brilliantly sunny day, the temperature was ideal, there were beautiful puffy white clouds in the sky, and the flowers were beginning to bloom. It was the perfect summer day, so naturally everyone would be outside, those of them with one had decided to take this day to connect with their familiars in the courtyard on this perfect day. But seeing them enjoying being with their own familiars hit her like a fist in her gut. Memories of the times that she and Saito had spent together came rushing to the front of her mind, and along came the sadness as well. Fresh tears started to bed at the corners of her eyes as she was lead farther from the door by Siesta.

From across the courtyard at a table sat Kirche, who noticed the opening door that revealed a very haggard looking Siesta and Louise who wore an expression of such profound sadness and despair that it seemed to hit her like a physical blow. Worried for the pink haired girl's emotional well-being, she gets up and walks towards the two of them. Without a word Kirche goes up to Louise and hugs her. A hug that said in the unspoken way it's going to be ok, I am here for you. And as they hugged the tears ran free from Louise yet again, her sobs the only thing Kirche focused on.

Though if she hadn't she would have noticed the courtyard go unnaturally quiet. She would have noticed the sound off someone coming up behind her. If she had had her eyes open she would have seen the look of shock and wonder on Siesta's face.

Kirche felt a light tap on her shoulder which she ignored. A moment passes and she feel another tap, slightly harder this time though she still ignores it she gets very irritable thinking that whoever is tapping her is a pig-headed asshole with no ability to read a situation. Another moment passes, followed by another. Kirche begins to think that the person has finally gotten a clue and left until she hears someone directly behind her clear their throat. This sends her over the edge with anger. She releases her hold on Louise gently and whips around, "What the fuck do yo…" She begins to yell as she turns, stopping when she sees who it is that is behind her.

Her jaw drops as she recognizes the person in front of her. She is about to say something when the person puts a finger on her lips and makes a silent shushing sound. He politely moves her to the side as he steps forward to be directly in front of Louise who is standing with her arms limp at her sides and her head towards the ground, tears still flowing free. Kirche watches as he puts his arms around her shoulders in a hug that was different from Kirche's in the sense that hers was one that conveyed understanding, this one conveyed nothing but love.

"I must have finally gone crazy, I feel like Saito is hugging me right now," Louise said with a bitter laugh.

"You aren't crazy, I am here Louise." Saito said as an amused smile crept across his face. Hearing this words Louise's head snapped up to see the person who had said these words, and as she looks at him her face goes from one of despair to one of hope.

"I...I...Is it really you Saito?" Louise pleaded, the hope in her eyes was enough to make Saito chuckle.

"Yeah, it's me. If it weren't would I be able to do this?" he says as he leans down and kisses her square on the lips. Letting go of her feelings of sadness she wraps her arms tightly around him and kisses him back. They break several minutes later for air.

"I love you Louise," Saito says with no hint of joking in his voice. Louise just stares back at him and pulls him back into another kiss just to feel close to him after so long apart from him.


	3. The Seeds of Distrust

A few days have passed since Saito returned to the Tristain Magic Academy, and to his beloved Louise. Saito felt as though the past few days had been in heaven. Louise would not let him leave her side for a moment for the fear he wouldn't come back and that he would disappear again. The same went for Siesta, much to the displeasure of Louise who feels that Siesta will take Saito from her. This has led to many sticky situations for Saito, especially this one.

Saito was fast asleep on the bed that he now shared with both Louise who was on his left, and Siesta who was on his right. Both of whom were currently holding on to him as was now the norm. Louise woke up, letting her eyes open slowly. Feeling the warmth of Saito's chest against her face. Nuzzling him a little she looks for his arm so that she can drape it over her and try to go back to sleep. But as she was looking she felt Saito stir.

"Mmm… Louise I love you…" Saito mumbled in his sleep a dreamy look on his face. This was enough to make Louise's face bloom with a deep red blush.

"I love you too Saito," could be heard over Saito's sleeping body. Making Louise's blush turn from one of embarrassment to one of anger. She rolls over and snatches her wand from where it was resting on the night table.

"This happened already? You fell for her, huh? Well… DIE YOU STUPD HORN DOG!" Louise mumbled with her head down until the last part when her head snapped up showing her face. Her face was one of rage with small tears at the edges of her eyes, she closed her eyes and pointed her wand towards Saito's still sleeping figure. *BOOM*

Louise let loose an explosion on Saito making him fly towards the door, breaking it off of its hinges with the sheer force of his impact. Now both door and Saito fly together towards the corridor wall. The strength of the impact was enough to crack the solid stone of the corridor's wall. Scorched black from the explosion and in pain from the impact of hitting the door and the wall he struggled to get to his feet.

During the explosion the movement of Saito caused Siesta to roll off of the bed saving her the fate of being thrown out of the room. Both the sound of the explosion and the impact of hitting the ground combined waking her with a start.

"Huh… What happened?" Siesta groggily said trying to rub the sleep out of her eyes and yawning. Noticing the scorch marks on the bed and the enraged looking Louise in front of her she realized what had happened. She turned looking to where Saito had flown she saw him on all fours in the corridor panting as he tries to stand. Worry begins to flood her mind as she stumbles getting up as she tries to move and help Saito stand.

"Saito! Oh my god are you ok?" Siesta screams as she rushes to help him, finally standing.

"*cough* Yeah… I think so…" Saito manages to say after a little effort. Siesta offers a hand to help him which he gladly accepts. Leaning heavily on her they walk back into the room through the destroyed door hole. Siesta maneuvers Saito to a chair so that he can sit down and recover.

"What the hell was that for Louise?" The anger in his voice was palpable, enough to the point that it took Louise by surprise. Replacing her anger with fear. But before he could say something Siesta started to dab away the black scorch marks that covered his exposed body. Several minutes are passed this way in charged silence as Saito is momentarily halted allowing Siesta to clean him up. She is almost done when Saito hears her gasp.

"Aren't you supposed to have your familiar runes on this hand?" Siesta said in a small worried voice. Her eyes open wide with Surprise and a small amount of fear.

"Yeah?... Why are you as…" Saito stops as he looks where Siesta points out. Indeed the runes that identified him as the legendary familiar "Gandalfr" weren't to be seen.

"Can I see that rag Siesta?" Saito asked calmly. Thinking to himself that the scorch marks were just hiding the runes. She nods and hands him the damp rag that she was using. Taking it he starts to rub with an intensity in an attempt to rub every trace of black off of his left hand.

"There, they are still there see?" Saito huffed after the effort of scrubbing his hand holding his left hand up for her to look. But as he did so, he saw the runes fade and disappear completely before his own eyes.

"But… That's impossible…" Saito began but was interrupted by Louise, who had gotten tired of being forgotten on the bed.

"What? What's impossible? Saito, as your master I demand that you tell me what's happening this instant!" Louise yelled from the bed at the person who was once her familiar.

"What was happening has already happened. As of now you are no longer my master. And I am no longer your familiar. The runes vanished." Saito said in a steely voice his face of puzzlement. He heard a thump and looked up to see the source of the sound to see that Louise ad fainted.


	4. The Road Towards Hatred

The carriage bounced long the uneven dirt lane jostling its 3 riders. A deadly silence hung over the interior of the carriage. Sweat was beading at the back of Saito's neck as he looked at Louise who was seated across from him. The cause of this tense atmosphere was none other than the maid siesta who had become increasingly clingy after his runes disappeared. She was currently hugging Saito's arm and giving Louise a smug grin.

This continued for a time, until Louise couldn't take it anymore. "Saito I order you to stop that shameless maid from hugging you right now!" Louise yelled, her outburst dripping with jealousy.

"No, no, no Louise. Do you forget? Saito isn't your servant anymore now that his familiar's runes have disappeared. Meaning he doesn't have to take orders from you anymore," the smug look on Siesta's face never left as she said this. Saito didn't think it was possible but he thinks he saw it look even smugger as she finished.

This was enough to make Louise go over the edge. "Oh, if that's the case then how about you and him both die?" Louise said perfectly calm, perfectly hiding her murderous feelings.

Sensing what Louise was about to do, Saito shoved Siesta off of his arm as Louise let loose an explosion mere inches in front of his chest. If the carriage hadn't been reinforced with magic Saito would have broken the entire back off the carriage as he was blasted backwards by the impact. The impact only managed to crack the seat that Saito was sitting on. Saito just sat there after it happened, dazed and scorched. If he had been totally conscious he would be in extreme pain.

Siesta looked up after she hit the floor to see a blackened Saito. On closer inspection he had unclear eyes. Fear suddenly welled up inside of her as she tried to get to Saito. Succeeding she comes over to him, looking for any sign of life in him. Checking his pulse her heart dropped, but then she felt a faint heartbeat and gave him a hug that if it had been any tighter it would've stopped his heart.

"SHUT UP BACK THERE!" Agnes's stern voice could be heard through the thick walls of the carriage.

All conversation in the carriage abruptly stopped as the trio heard these words. Feelings of anger and worry were replaced by fear and slight embarrassment. None of them made another sound the rest of the trip for fear of what Agnes would do to them. During this time Saito was still unconscious, but his vital signs were improving.

Oblivious to the world Saito couldn't help but think to himself why he was blown up, and why he was even here in the carriage in the first place. Then he remembered the reason why. One week ago, after Saito had seen his runes disappear he had been summoned to the headmaster's office for an emergency meeting. During this meeting he was asked how he had gotten rid of the runes on his hand. He had had no clue as to why they had disappeared so suddenly. But then Delfringer had chosen to speak up saying that during the battle with the 70,000 soldiers his heart had stopped once, so he had technically died. Negating the effects of the familiar's contract binding him to Louise.

He had then been asked how it was that he was still alive if his heart had stopped. Delfringer did not know, but Saito perked up when he heard this question. "A fairy saved me," Saito said with a straight face.

Everyone in the room but him started to laugh loudly as Saito just looked at them confused.

"Oh… You were serious?" Mr. Colbert asked him surprised.

Saito spent the next several minutes telling them all about the "fairy" that had saved his life and had helped him to get better. He told them of where she lived, how she lived, what she looked like, and finally her name Tifffania. The more that Saito told them the more Mr. Colbert came to his conclusion.

"What you are describing is no fairy, but more likely an elf. And if what you said is true and that she bought you back from the dead then we need to meet her and make clear as to where her allegiances lie," was Mr. Colbert's conclusion.

A few days later a summons from the queen arrived, and when they got there the same thing happened. This is how Saito ended up charred and unconscious in the back of a carriage going down a bumpy dirt road.


	5. A Botched Reunion

Several more days passed this way, Siesta taking advantage of Saito's new found freedom. And Louise getting mad to the point of blowing poor Saito up. Multiple times. At this point Saito was on edge. It seemed to him that whatever he did nowadays got him blown up. He was starting to have thoughts that he wasn't supposed to be here with Louise. "Hey brat!" Agnes yelled from across the fire."Since your runes disappeared you suck at fighting again, right?"

"You didn't have to be so blunt about it... But yeah, I wouldn't even be able to protect myself much less anyone else here if we were to be attacked right now," He respond back to her, lowering his head in shame at his own words. Saito sees her arm flash and an instant later feels something slam into the top of his head hard enough for him to see stars.

"OWWW! That freaking hurt!" Saito screams at her, not understanding why she had thrown something at him. Looking to see what hit , he sees a crudely carved wooden sword and realized that that was what she had thrown.

"You're right, as you are now, Siesta would be more useful in a fight than you. So, in order for you to not endanger us later if something comes up, i will personally teach you how to fight." She taunted, waving her own "sword" from across the fire. Getting up from his sitting position Saito mirrored Agnes's stance as best as he could. He swung first and in an instant he was disarmed with her "sword" pointed at his neck.

"This may take longer than expected," Agnes sighs as she moves back into her starting stance, motioning for him to pick up the "sword" that was lying at his feet. Saito and Agnes practiced for what seemed like an eternity. By the end of it he had only made slight progress, though he was covered in welts and bruises from all of his failed attack attempts. Angry with his thoughts that he was weak, he walked into the forest. Saito didn't know why but this area seemed very familiar to him. Suddenly his legs gave out from fatigue, leaning against a tree and breathing heavy he could swear he see a familiar outline in the gloom.

Gathering the little energy he had left, he stood up again and started moving towards the outline. After a while he could see that it was a woman, but still this sense of familiarity he got looking at her freaked him out a little. As Saito got closer he could start to discern specific details about the woman. She had green clothes, blonde hair and huge boobs. She lifted a hand and moves some hair behind her ears. It was then that Saito realized why the woman had seemed so familiar, she was the one who had saved him when he was near death.

"Tiffania..." Saito said under his breath"

"Tiffania, it's me. Saito." He says louder catching her attention.

"S-Saito? I-Is that really you?"Tiffania stuttered as she turned around to look at the source of the words.

You smile as you finally see her clearly, but as you do you notice your vision start to blur. You look around and see the world spinning. The last thing you remember is the forest floor rushing up towards your face and then darkness.


End file.
